Formula-1 news

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel will start the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix just where he wants, on pole position. But there was a major disappointment for team mate Mark Webber who managed only fifth place and will be separated from Vettel by Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button.

Hamilton already held second place, but trimmed his time down to demonstrate to Vettel that he may yet have a race on his hands on Sunday…

Ferrari’s Felipe Massa faced stiff competition when he took on UAE students from Team Impulse on the F1 in Schools track at the Mubadala Experience. F1 in Schools, a global educational initiative which operates in 34 countries, is being showcased in a number of different locations in Abu Dhabi as part of the build-up to this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Mubadala, partners of the programme in the UAE, has an F1 in Schools track and display at the F1 Fanzone, located on the Corniche. Abu Dhabi International Airport is also hosting a track, which allows overseas visitors arriving for the Grand Prix to try their hand at racing the scale model F1 cars designed and built by UAE students. And there is also a 20-metre track at the Yas Marina Circuit itself.

Following its debut event at last month’s Italian Grand Prix in Milan, F1 Rocks

British racer Sam Bird will drive for Mercedes GP at the young driver test to be held at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit on November 16-17, the team have confirmed. Bird, 23, is currently fifth in the GP2 standings with one win and four podiums and will be in Abu Dhabi for the season finale, part of the support bill for the Formula One Grand Prix…

Indian Karun Chandhok is set to be the first Formula One driver to get a taste of the brand-new Yeongam track in Korea next month. Chandhok will take part in a demonstration event on September 4 for the Red Bull team, as the Asian country gears up to host the inaugural Korean Grand Prix from October 22-24…

For many F1 experts Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel is still the hottest candidate for the 2010 drivers’ title, despite his occasional mistakes – notably his safety-car lapse at the last race in Hungary. Spa-Francorchamps, venue for this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, puts intense pressure on car and driver and if Vettel can succeed here then his championship odds will shorten dramatically. But can he put those previous errors out of his mind and go on the offensive? The German believes so

It was a rainy day for a birthday, but that is what you sometimes get in Belgium. A huge cake from his Red Bull team compensated at least partially for the monsoon-like conditions. Regardless, Mark Webber leads the championship and is in relaxed frame of mind going into this weekend’s Grand Prix. The RB6 may not have featured highly on the Friday timesheets, but Sunday’s a different matter and Webber would love to add a prestigious Spa win to his trophy cabinet – even if he admits he now has the championship’s long game in mind

The Hungarian Grand Prix couldn’t have been more disappointing for McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton – not only did his race end in retirement but he lost the top spot in the standings. Hamilton, however, has already shaken off any feelings of regret and is now fully focused on recharging his batteries over the summer break and returning to the fray later this month with a renewed sense of purpose. He explains more in an interview on his official website

Mark Webber dominated the final session of practice prior to Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying, finishing the hour 0.484s ahead of Red Bull team mate Sebastian Vettel whose final three efforts to unseat him came up short.

Webber’s lap of 1m 19.574s struck terror into the hearts of rivals, and just to rub their noses in it, Vettel’s lap of 1m 20.058s was itself seven-tenths clear of Fernando Alonso’s 1m 20.724s for Ferrari…

Having just taken his fourth pole position in a row, there is no doubting Sebastian Vettel’s one-lap performance. While it’s true that he’s found it more difficult to convert those front-row starts into race wins, Vettel is confident that should all change in Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix. Considering the lead he had on Saturday over his team mate Mark Webber and the two Ferraris, few would disagree